More bad news from U.S. stocks

U.S. stocks fell, as the Nasdaq 100 Index extended a two-month low and consumer shares sank a third day. European equities fell from a six-year high, while Spanish and Italian bonds retreated.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.5 percent at 10:31 a.m. in New York. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4 percent after a 2.7 percent slide on April 4. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.2 percent, the most in a month, and the MSCI All-Country World Index slipped 0.6 percent. The yield on Spain’s 10-year bond rose three basis points to 3.18 percent. Treasuries advanced to the highest level in more than a week.

The Nasdaq Composite Index of technology stocks slid the most in two months on April 4 amid concern valuations on the world’s best-performing industry have advanced too far. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard will speak today after a lower-than-estimated U.S. payrolls number last week. Bonds fell after European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said there’s no immediate need for further action on new stimulus.

“The question today is will investors see this as opportunity to buy the dip, or do they stay on the sidelines and wait to see earnings strength in the first quarter?” Kate Warne, a St. Louis-based investment strategist at Edward Jones & Co., which manages $787 billion, said by phone. “The fundamentals remain pretty good, but sentiment can change quickly, as we saw on Friday.”

Consumer Rout

Consumer stocks fell 1.1 percent today, the most among the 10 main S&P 500 groups, after dropping 1.7 percent on April 4. The industry has lost 5.1 percent since a record close on March 6.